Change Is Gonna' Come...

You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the one thing in our lives which remains constant and unwavering is change.

 

In November, I left San Diego for Portland, Oregon. It was a move which, at the time, I was pretty convinced made a lot of sense. Whether that's the case or not will, I suppose, be borne out by the success or failure of my upcoming move, which will take me about as far out of Portland as one can get: St. Augustine, Florida.

 

Don't get me wrong; Portland certainly has a number of good points.

 

First, from a photographer's perspective, it's going to be hard to beat the Pacific Northwest for natural beauty. From Mount Hood to Mount St. Helens, from Cannon Beach to Grant's Pass and Hellgate Canyon, it's a five star feast for the eyes. Some of my favorite photos I've ever taken have been shot since I crossed the California/Oregon border in November.

 

But it's time to go.

 

I started working in the music industry (in a very broad sense) back in 1997, when I started working at Moze Guitars in San Diego. I went from working for that small shop on College Avenue to working for one of the largest acoustic guitar companies on the planet. I left that job, though, in February of 2012.

 

After taking much of 2012 off, I was offered the position I have at the moment, at a very well respected retailer in Portland. I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity they gave me, especially as I was hired based solely on my reputation; nary a resume' or employment application as far as the eye could see.

 

Initially, I'd planned on being here for at least a year. I figured that would give me a solid basis of time and experience on which to decide to stay or not. Well, a near-death experience on Christmas Day convinced me, for a number of reasons, that I would probably roll through the summer and, in the Fall, pack my bags and head out. A phone call I received from an old friend, however, accelerated what otherwise would've likely been simply a protracted departure.

 

I was offered a position as a photographer in Pennsylvania. It's a temporary gig; seven weeks, but the pay is very good, and my expenses (primarily room and board) are paid for. They're also off-setting some of my travel expenses. It's slowly but surely dawning on me that my camera will, finally, become the breadwinner.

 

What this means in the immediate, though, is that I've got another move in front of me, and it's a big one. In about a month, I'm going to be making the drive from Portland, Oregon to St. Augustine Florida, by way of Pennsylvania. I keep seeing the word "epic" flashing in my mind's eye.

I've driven cross country twice, both times from Charleston, South Carolina to San Diego, California. Each time, the emphasis was on the amount of time spent traveling, and not on what we might've actually been able to see had we taken the time to get off the beaten path (also known as US Interstate 10) for a little while.

I don't want to make that same mistake again.

As it sits right now, I'm going to try to shove off from Portland at zero-dark-thirty on Monday, May 27th. It's Memorial Day, so traffic should be minimal if I leave early enough.

When I drove from San Diego to Portland, I didn't have to put a lot of planning into the actual driving aspect of the trip. I drove from San Diego to my buddy Chris' house in the Bay Area, then on to Grant's Pass, Oregon and then to Portland. It was a distance, but the stops were pretty much known, as it was only a four day trip. This go-round, though, is a bit more protracted. I don't need to be in Pennsylvania until Thursday, June 20th. I'm going to have better than three weeks with which to make this drive, and I intend to exploit the Hell out of that timetable.

The trip will include stops at places I never thought I would see (Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore, for example), as well as stops along to the way to visit some old friends and family in places like Chattanooga, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky and Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. It's going to include stops in places for which the decision to stop there was no more involved than seeing that it was along the way. My itinerary has places like Florence, Montana and Sheridan, Wyoming on it. While it has a stop in Kansas City after leaving Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I may just "To Hell with it" and muscle on through to St. Louis before calling it a day.

What I'm most excited about, though, is that my Canon 5D is going to be riding shotgun. I'm not going to make the mistake of not stopping. I'm not going to make the mistake of not turning back to get a particular shot. I'm looking at this trip, in some respects, as a "bucket list" level endeavor, and I intend to get the most out of it.

I'm hoping to have some wi-fi along the way, and I'm guessing that any lodging will have, at least, that.. I don't plan on staying at the Marriott or the Hyatt. Places like "Uncle Cephus' Wagon Wheel Inn" will appease me nicely. If they've got wi-fi, all the better. If nothing else, I'll take the opportunity to get photos posted to Facebook and Flickr.

I'm also considering doing some sort of publication documenting the trip. I'll probably end up doing either a calendar or a book. Hell, I may just decide to do both. If I do them, they'll be made available for purchase and, seeing as my camera is now my meal ticket, I sure would appreciate some support there! It's going to be just me and Boo, my Inukshuk, finding our way across the country to the east coast, to a new life with new challenges.

So, in short, Portland has been good, but it's time to go. I'm fortunate to know some amazing people here, and I'll never forget them, their friendship or everything they did for the new guy in town who knew no one, and could find nothing.

But, as I look at the calendar, it's quite apparent to me.

It's time to go...